Is anyone expecting a surprise this season?

Kev627 · Post by **Kev627** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 11:49 am

Is anyone expecting the unexpected this season, HAAS or Manor to be front runners, Mercedes to struggle, Williams to step up or not, do we think any drivers might call it quits mid season (my personal thought would be Raikkonen if Ferrari fail).

What unexpected events do people think might just actually happen?

mikeyg123 · Post by **mikeyg123** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 11:53 am

Nothing quite that unexpected but I do anticipate Vettel being Hamilton's chief rival for the championship and a big step up from Mclaren.

hrm80953 · Post by **hrm80953** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 11:54 am

Tempted to put £1 on Mclaren to win the constructors title.

Zoue · Post by **Zoue** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 12:05 pm

Not so much expecting, but certainly hoping that McLaren step up to the plate and provide a decent challenger. They are long overdue back at the front IMO and the sport needs them there

mcdo · Post by **mcdo** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 1:32 pm

Not really.

But I would welcome any of the following:
- A proper Merc V Ferrari battle
- A massive improvement from McLaren-Honda
- Manor challenging for the odd point here and there
- Toro Rosso with the year old Ferrari unit cruising ahead of Red Bull
- Williams using ruthless strategy to win a race

pokerman · Post by **pokerman** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 3:14 pm

Depends on what you might consider a surprise, I think Vettel could be champion and McLaren to be 3rd/4th best team.

MistaVega23 · Post by **MistaVega23** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 3:30 pm

For the WDC, then no.

For wins, hopefully Williams and (possibly) a win for Kimi.

For podiums, Hulkenberg and Max should be up there at some point.

For points, Haas possibly, and never before has Manor had a better opportunity to score.

I'd be curious to see how the Renault works team fare against RBR, too.

moby · Post by **moby** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 3:56 pm

If you expect it, its not a surprise

. I thank I may suprise myself by enjoying it after all I have said.

Manor may well be up with Sauber, STR, and even FI, which would really be a surprise

F1Krof · Post by **F1Krof** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 6:36 pm

For some reason, I have that odd feeling that Mercedes will struggle. They've changed their design philosophy for this year car, making it more revolutionary, instead, they'll be struggling to find pace. Ferrari on the other hand, will be the one to beat.

WHoff78 · Post by **WHoff78** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 6:56 pm

Perhaps Manor to crack Q3 in Australia, Super Aguri Style! Otherwise some competition at the front would be a welcome surprise, along with solid development from Honda and Renault.

Lt. Drebin · Post by **Lt. Drebin** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 8:23 pm

No surprises.

Just a usual fluctuation in the upper and lower midfield.

Fiki · Post by **Fiki** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 8:54 pm

moby wrote:If you expect it, its not a surprise .

My favourite kind of surprise would be to see Kimi back where he belongs. That is closely followed by seeing Nico Rosberg receiving sufficient team support to take the fight to Hamilton this time. We don't call F1 a mechanical sport for nothing, do we?

jasonthebadger · Post by **jasonthebadger** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:32 pm

mcdo wrote:Not really.

But I would welcome any of the following:
- A proper Merc V Ferrari battle
- A massive improvement from McLaren-Honda
- Manor challenging for the odd point here and there
- Toro Rosso with the year old Ferrari unit cruising ahead of Red Bull
- Williams using ruthless strategy to win a race

All of these with the exception of Williams will probably happen i reckon

j man · Post by **j man** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:53 pm

How about Renault being the slowest on the grid in Australia?

They had no money last year to develop this year's car, and they're about to switch to a much weaker engine. Even the team have admitted that making it out of Q1 in the early part of the season will be a struggle (see this month's F1 Racing), and to top it off they have a quite uninspiring driver line-up. Meanwhile Manor spent last year focussing on 2016 and have sourced Mercedes engines along with a gearbox from Williams I believe, and there are positive noises coming from Haas after putting a lot of investment into this year's car.

w1Y! · Post by **w1Y!** » Wed Jan 27, 2016 10:28 pm

I think Mercedes will slip backwards.

I think their development will give them issues and the tyres won't allow them to compensate.

So we will only get them dominate at a selection of tracks

Ferrari will be much more consistant and vettel will be wdc

TheDamus · Post by **TheDamus** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 1:08 am

McHonda on the podium in the first 3 races?

pokerman · Post by **pokerman** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 1:22 am

Fiki wrote:
moby wrote:If you expect it, its not a surprise .

My favourite kind of surprise would be to see Kimi back where he belongs. That is closely followed by seeing Nico Rosberg receiving sufficient team support to take the fight to Hamilton this time. We don't call F1 a mechanical sport for nothing, do we?

Of course Hamilton wouldn't be able to beat Rosberg fair and square

HS Thompson · Post by **HS Thompson** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 1:26 am

pokerman wrote:
Fiki wrote:
moby wrote:If you expect it, its not a surprise .

My favourite kind of surprise would be to see Kimi back where he belongs. That is closely followed by seeing Nico Rosberg receiving sufficient team support to take the fight to Hamilton this time. We don't call F1 a mechanical sport for nothing, do we?
Of course Hamilton wouldn't be able to beat Rosberg fair and square

Rosberg has crumbled every time he's been in the spotlight. Next year will be no different.

Exediron · Post by **Exediron** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 2:29 am

pokerman wrote:
Fiki wrote:
moby wrote:If you expect it, its not a surprise .

My favourite kind of surprise would be to see Kimi back where he belongs. That is closely followed by seeing Nico Rosberg receiving sufficient team support to take the fight to Hamilton this time. We don't call F1 a mechanical sport for nothing, do we?
Of course Hamilton wouldn't be able to beat Rosberg fair and square

Well, that just changes the definition of what 'sufficient' team support would be for him to take the fight to Lewis

ob1kenobi.23 · Post by **ob1kenobi.23** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 4:00 am

The TR turns out to be a beast with the Ferrari engine & Max becomes the youngest WC ever.

Zoue · Post by **Zoue** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 8:14 am

pokerman wrote:
Fiki wrote:
moby wrote:If you expect it, its not a surprise .

My favourite kind of surprise would be to see Kimi back where he belongs. That is closely followed by seeing Nico Rosberg receiving sufficient team support to take the fight to Hamilton this time. We don't call F1 a mechanical sport for nothing, do we?
Of course Hamilton wouldn't be able to beat Rosberg fair and square

Alonso would always be able to beat Massa fair and square. And yet there are many who insist that he received preferential treatment from Ferrari.

Blackhander · Post by **Blackhander** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 8:51 am

Zoue wrote:
pokerman wrote:
Fiki wrote:
moby wrote:If you expect it, its not a surprise .

My favourite kind of surprise would be to see Kimi back where he belongs. That is closely followed by seeing Nico Rosberg receiving sufficient team support to take the fight to Hamilton this time. We don't call F1 a mechanical sport for nothing, do we?
Of course Hamilton wouldn't be able to beat Rosberg fair and square
Alonso would always be able to beat Massa fair and square. And yet there are many who insist that he received preferential treatment from Ferrari.

Alonso did recieve preferential treatment though? It was Ferrari policy to favour one driver, and as far as I know still is. Best example that I remember off of the top of my head was when they broke open Massa's gear box and put him back 5 places to move Alonso forward one.

hittheapex · Post by **hittheapex** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 9:27 am

j man wrote:How about Renault being the slowest on the grid in Australia?

They had no money last year to develop this year's car, and they're about to switch to a much weaker engine. Even the team have admitted that making it out of Q1 in the early part of the season will be a struggle (see this month's F1 Racing), and to top it off they have a quite uninspiring driver line-up. Meanwhile Manor spent last year focussing on 2016 and have sourced Mercedes engines along with a gearbox from Williams I believe, and there are positive noises coming from Haas after putting a lot of investment into this year's car.

I can see Renault and McLaren changing places this year.

Fiki · Post by **Fiki** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 12:20 pm

Blackhander wrote:
Zoue wrote:
pokerman wrote:
Fiki wrote:
moby wrote:If you expect it, its not a surprise .

My favourite kind of surprise would be to see Kimi back where he belongs. That is closely followed by seeing Nico Rosberg receiving sufficient team support to take the fight to Hamilton this time. We don't call F1 a mechanical sport for nothing, do we?
Of course Hamilton wouldn't be able to beat Rosberg fair and square
Alonso would always be able to beat Massa fair and square. And yet there are many who insist that he received preferential treatment from Ferrari.
Alonso did recieve preferential treatment though? It was Ferrari policy to favour one driver, and as far as I know still is. Best example that I remember off of the top of my head was when they broke open Massa's gear box and put him back 5 places to move Alonso forward one.

You don't even have to look that late in their stint together. Two years before Alonso even showed up at Ferrari, Montezemolo let on that the lesser of the two drivers would be allowed to stay, while the champion had to go. It doesn't get much clearer than that, unfortunately.

As for Hamilton/Rosberg, you needn't look further than the team reaction after Francorchamps 2014, and contrast that with their reaction (or lack thereof) when Hamilton runs Rosberg off the track.

Remember when Lorenzo joined Rossi at Yamaha? That was equal treatment, and full support for both riders.

Lotus49 · Post by **Lotus49** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 4:22 pm

ob1kenobi.23 wrote:The TR turns out to be a beast with the Ferrari engine & Max becomes the youngest WC ever.

I would love that to be the case.

pokerman · Post by **pokerman** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 4:40 pm

Exediron wrote:
pokerman wrote:
Fiki wrote:
moby wrote:If you expect it, its not a surprise .

My favourite kind of surprise would be to see Kimi back where he belongs. That is closely followed by seeing Nico Rosberg receiving sufficient team support to take the fight to Hamilton this time. We don't call F1 a mechanical sport for nothing, do we?
Of course Hamilton wouldn't be able to beat Rosberg fair and square
Well, that just changes the definition of what 'sufficient' team support would be for him to take the fight to Lewis

Ah I see what you mean

pokerman · Post by **pokerman** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 4:41 pm

Zoue wrote:
pokerman wrote:
Fiki wrote:
moby wrote:If you expect it, its not a surprise .

My favourite kind of surprise would be to see Kimi back where he belongs. That is closely followed by seeing Nico Rosberg receiving sufficient team support to take the fight to Hamilton this time. We don't call F1 a mechanical sport for nothing, do we?
Of course Hamilton wouldn't be able to beat Rosberg fair and square
Alonso would always be able to beat Massa fair and square. And yet there are many who insist that he received preferential treatment from Ferrari.

Well people will have agendas

pokerman · Post by **pokerman** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 5:25 pm

Fiki wrote:
Blackhander wrote:
Zoue wrote:
pokerman wrote:
Fiki wrote:My favourite kind of surprise would be to see Kimi back where he belongs. That is closely followed by seeing Nico Rosberg receiving sufficient team support to take the fight to Hamilton this time. We don't call F1 a mechanical sport for nothing, do we?
Of course Hamilton wouldn't be able to beat Rosberg fair and square
Alonso would always be able to beat Massa fair and square. And yet there are many who insist that he received preferential treatment from Ferrari.
Alonso did recieve preferential treatment though? It was Ferrari policy to favour one driver, and as far as I know still is. Best example that I remember off of the top of my head was when they broke open Massa's gear box and put him back 5 places to move Alonso forward one.
You don't even have to look that late in their stint together. Two years before Alonso even showed up at Ferrari, Montezemolo let on that the lesser of the two drivers would be allowed to stay, while the champion had to go. It doesn't get much clearer than that, unfortunately.

As for Hamilton/Rosberg, you needn't look further than the team reaction after Francorchamps 2014, and contrast that with their reaction (or lack thereof) when Hamilton runs Rosberg off the track.

Remember when Lorenzo joined Rossi at Yamaha? That was equal treatment, and full support for both riders.

Oh that's were you were going with this, I wonder how many times the likes of Massa, Kimi and Rosberg need to get beaten before excuses are stopped being made for them and the drivers take the blame themselves?

slide · Post by **slide** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 6:31 pm

yes , I can see massa making a mistake and admitting to it

Woody_247 · Post by **Woody_247** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 7:44 pm

Alonso, Button, Massa and Kimi calling it a day and the most intense silly season ever.

Fiki · Post by **Fiki** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 10:06 pm

pokerman wrote:
Fiki wrote:You don't even have to look that late in their stint together. Two years before Alonso even showed up at Ferrari, Montezemolo let on that the lesser of the two drivers would be allowed to stay, while the champion had to go. It doesn't get much clearer than that, unfortunately.

As for Hamilton/Rosberg, you needn't look further than the team reaction after Francorchamps 2014, and contrast that with their reaction (or lack thereof) when Hamilton runs Rosberg off the track.

Remember when Lorenzo joined Rossi at Yamaha? That was equal treatment, and full support for both riders.
Oh that's were you were going with this, I wonder how many times the likes of Massa, Kimi and Rosberg need to get beaten before excuses are stopped being made for them and the drivers take the blame themselves?

Who was making "excuses" for the drivers so they didn't need to take the blame themselves? The fans can't, the teams didn't, and the drivers did take the blame for the things they were to blame for. So no, that's not where I was going with this.

lamo · Post by **lamo** » Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:08 am

Zoue wrote:
pokerman wrote:
Fiki wrote:
moby wrote:If you expect it, its not a surprise .

My favourite kind of surprise would be to see Kimi back where he belongs. That is closely followed by seeing Nico Rosberg receiving sufficient team support to take the fight to Hamilton this time. We don't call F1 a mechanical sport for nothing, do we?
Of course Hamilton wouldn't be able to beat Rosberg fair and square
Alonso would always be able to beat Massa fair and square. And yet there are many who insist that he received preferential treatment from Ferrari.

We don't really know.. number 1 driver can mean a lot of things behind the scenes

1) Best engine allocation, they vary by about 5-15 BHP
2) If a new part loses number one 0.050 per lap but gains number two 0.050, that part isn't staying on the car. If its the other way around, the part stays.
3) Optimum strategy for race and qualifying run timings
4) Development of the car tailored to number 1's driving style and entire team geared toward his WDC challenge
5) Only 1 new part available, its going on number 1's car. In some cases with limited parts, its coming off of number 2's car if number 1 damages his (Vettel - Webber)

Add some or all of those together and you are looking at 0.2 per lap in the pocket from the get go. On top of the fact that the number one is probably quicker by a tenth or two most of the time leads to Alonso - Massa type dynamics. An off day for Massa and he is 0.5 down, a very good one and he matched or narrowly lost out to Alonso

2fast · Post by **2fast** » Fri Jan 29, 2016 3:44 am

if any team could just fight closely with MercedesGP, that would be a big surprise to me.

pokerman · Post by **pokerman** » Fri Jan 29, 2016 2:18 pm

2fast wrote:if any team could just fight closely with MercedesGP, that would be a big surprise to me.

I believe Ferrari will be very strong

Blackhander · Post by **Blackhander** » Fri Jan 29, 2016 2:24 pm

pokerman wrote:
2fast wrote:if any team could just fight closely with MercedesGP, that would be a big surprise to me.
I believe Ferrari will be very strong

I'm still expecting a Mercedes white wash

Strange part is that I don't even know myself if it's because that is simply the most likely and logical conclusion or whether I'm being cynical on purpose so that at worst I'm not surprised and anything else is a bonus. I think I actually switch between the two almost daily.

pokerman · Post by **pokerman** » Fri Jan 29, 2016 2:55 pm

Blackhander wrote:
pokerman wrote:
2fast wrote:if any team could just fight closely with MercedesGP, that would be a big surprise to me.
I believe Ferrari will be very strong
I'm still expecting a Mercedes white wash

Strange part is that I don't even know myself if it's because that is simply the most likely and logical conclusion or whether I'm being cynical on purpose so that at worst I'm not surprised and anything else is a bonus. I think I actually switch between the two almost daily.

I just feel it in my water

UnlikeUday · Post by **UnlikeUday** » Sat Jan 30, 2016 5:34 am

pokerman wrote:
2fast wrote:if any team could just fight closely with MercedesGP, that would be a big surprise to me.
I believe Ferrari will be very strong

You could be more precise by saying probably Vettel will be strong.

Randine · Post by **Randine** » Sat Jan 30, 2016 9:11 am

UnlikeUday wrote:
pokerman wrote:
2fast wrote:if any team could just fight closely with MercedesGP, that would be a big surprise to me.
I believe Ferrari will be very strong
You could be more precise by saying probably Vettel will be strong.

Maybe not...
Ferrari are switching to push rod suspension from using pull rod for the last 4 years. They have been the only team on the grid to use that type of front suspension.

Raikkonen has complained constantly about a lack of precision at the front, which is a characteristic of the pullrod suspension.
Also pull rod is apparently harder and more time consuming to make set up changes.

So for the first time since the Lotus, Kimi will be in a car with push rod suspension which he should be able to set up very quickly to how he likes the front end of the car...
Should be interesting to see if he can bounce back or 2016 is his last year in F1.

pokerman · Post by **pokerman** » Sat Jan 30, 2016 2:01 pm

UnlikeUday wrote:
pokerman wrote:
2fast wrote:if any team could just fight closely with MercedesGP, that would be a big surprise to me.
I believe Ferrari will be very strong
You could be more precise by saying probably Vettel will be strong.

Vettel was strong last year in the second best car but didn't win, I believe the car in the first place is more important.

dizlexik · Post by **dizlexik** » Sat Jan 30, 2016 11:14 pm

I think the only surprise for me would be Mercedes being clearly slower than some other team. Beside that every other teams were very inconsistent in past 2-3 seasons, so for example Ferrari being slow wouldn't surprise me.